Whenever Jordan Brand sends you an invite, you know it’s time to clear your calendar. So right before the start of 2012 I did just that. I knew the purpose of the trip to L.A. was to unveil Chris Paul‘s fifth signature shoe, the Jordan CP3.V, but other than that the agenda was a mystery. It’s time to pull back the curtain.

After arriving in Los Angeles yesterday morning from San Francisco, I was greeted at the airport by a driver holding a sign that read “PHILLIPS.” I don’t care how many times this happens, it never gets old. Turns out my driver had Phil Knight for a couple days while he was in town for the Rose Bowl, so he was excited to talk kicks with me en route to the hotel.

Next stop, Hollywood. Three days and two nights at the Hollywood Roosevelt is like recreating Entourage. And to further realize this scenario, we ended up watching the Clippers-Rockets game at Goal, a sports bar in West Hollywood co-owned by Jerry Ferrara (a.k.a. Turtle). This was cool and all, but nothing compared to what went down today.

To quote CP3, “WoW.” We rolled up to the Cooper Building in downtown L.A. and took the elevator to the 11th floor. We knew as soon as we walked in that we were in the right place owing to the giant Jumpman logo displayed on the wall.

Once we were inside, it was a trip down memory lane. In a beautiful studio space, Jordan Brand had setup a gallery showcasing the life of CP3. Some of the amazing artifacts included his Russell Rec. Center t-shirt, his West Forsyth High School jersey and family photos of him and his brother C.J. In three separate rooms – childhood, high school and college – you got to see the progression arriving at today.